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The modern era has been an era of cheap food. Industrial farming has leveraged economies of scale to produce for the mass market through factory farming, but the land, animals, and humans have suffered the consequences in falling nutritional quality and illness caused by chemical farming techniques. And industrial farming is petroleum based farming, turning oil into food.

The era of cheap food is over. Rising oil prices are combining with third world nations' rising incomes and increasing demand for more meat and other higher-cost food, as well as ill-conceived government subsidies for ethanol that is turning food crops into fuel, to drive food commodity prices ever-higher. With a severe global economic downturn setting in and millions of families worldwide facing difficulty in figuring out how to feed their families, we are now entering a global Food Crisis.

But the crisis caused for millions due to the increasing price of food is a lagging indicator. More fundamental is the drastic way that food production, distribution, and consumption has changed over the past few decades. With increasing urbanization has come the loss of productive farmland and the decline of family farming around the globe. This makes the modern food system much more susceptible to risks of various sorts, everything from weather and crop failures, to market conditions in oil markets and global geopolitical events. Even local disasters can produce serious problems with respect to food availability due to the long supply lines in modern food systems.

But there is hope. "Buy Fresh. Buy Local" has become a widespread movement as people have come to realize that year-round availability of "fresh" produce does not equate to good quality food that provides needed nutrition and enjoyment. There has begun a resurgence in local and family farming that runs counter to the industrial centralization that has been the norm for over a century. People around the world are seeking out the ancient paths and getting reconnected with their neighbors and communities. And they are eating better and living better than ever before.

This burgeoning local and organic food movement is beginning to become mainstream, with major retailers rushing to accomodate the tastes and preferences of a more informed food consumer. Will these consumers continue a journey towards a renaissance in food, or be lured away from the true alternatives to the modern industrial food system?

True Food Solutions is a community of people interested and involved in alternatives to the modern food economy for the production, processing, distribution, sale and consumption of food. Everyone from farmers, homesteaders, and gardeners to natural health enthusiasts and budget-conscious families can be found here.

True Food Solutions is a place to share your food solutions and learn from others. Together we can build a brighter future.